Child Care and Protection System Reforms

Social welfare sector reform is increasingly common, particularly in transitional countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Increasing attention has been paid to the development of preventive community based child and family welfare programs that would, in coordination with health and education programs and social assistance, provide a range of support for vulnerable families.

Recognition of the damaging effects of institutional care on children and its high cost has influenced governments to redirect resources towards alternative family and community-based care practices such as kinship care, fostering, and adoption. Redirecting resources in the context of social welfare reforms requires a commitment from governments to provide adequate financing for effective policy implementation.

Funding availability raises a variety of issues regarding the level and type of support to be provided, the private or public management of services, and the entitlement process. Social welfare should protect the rights of children and their caretakers via fair and clear criteria of support provisions, with transparent procedures for the effective allocation of services.

Social welfare reforms to protect and support children and families need to be built on legal protections and child care policies which reflect the same child centred goals. Alternative forms of community based care, combined with social reintegration programmes and family support services, must be developed to reduce the use of institutions and enable children leaving institutions to rejoin their communities.

The resources in this section focus on country initiatives in reforming their social welfare sector to finance community based care developments.

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Transitioning Models of Care Assessment Tool

Rebecca Nhep and Hannah Won - Better Care Network & Kinnected - an initiative of ACC International Relief, with support from Changing the Way We Care,

Welcome and Background to the Tool

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Speech by the Honourable Minister of Community Development and Social Welfare for the Official Launch of the National Child Care Consultative Forum

This document presents the full text of the speech delivered by Zambia’s Minister of Community Development and Social Welfare on the first day of the National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform in Zambia.

Martin James Foundation's Asia Care Network Case Studies

Martin James Foundation,

As part of phase one of the development of the Martin James Foundation's Asia Care Network, comprehensive studies of the care system in each country were conducted to highlight the need for developing alternative care systems across South-East Asia.

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